Creatures Online
Creatures 4 (originally announced as Creatures 2011), is a new official creatures game currently in development by Fishing Cactus, licensed by Gameware Development. Development The game was officially announced on 16th May 2011 and it will be the first Creatures game for iOS. BluesNews were able to confirm that the free-to-play game will be microtransaction-based (small fees), though "most of the content will be entirely free." Bigben, the publishers, were given the rights to distribute Creatures 4, and all of the previous Creatures games in Europe. From the Gamasutra website: Fishing Cactus (Belgium based developer), Bigben (Publisher) and Gameware Development (the IP rights owner) are set to deliver a new Creatures game that maintains the characteristics of the earlier games. It will be free-to-play and available on PC/Mac and iOS platforms - iPod, iPhone and iPad. A collector gift box full of surprises will also be created. In approximately 2009, Fishing Cactus floated the idea of C4 amongst themselves and approached Gameware. Fishing Cactus then contacted BigBen Interactive about the game, and they provided funding. Grendels and Ettins will not be in the initial release of the game, as confirmed by Fishing Cactus, however they are on the "we might make them in an upgrade list". Fishing Cactus confirmed that the artificial life technology that the previous games were renowned for is returning in Creatures 4. Rooms Creatures 4 is the first Creatures game to be set on planet Sphericus. The game initially features four environments, each with their own unique Norn breed, but more may be developed for sale in the future: *The Hatchery *The Treehouse *The Cavern *The Beach Breed List Creatures 4 was announced as coming with four Norn breeds, two of which have officially been announced, the other being included as a sneak peek: *Classical Norn *TBA *Aqua Norn *Cavern Norn In March 2013, Fishing Cactus announced that there would be 12 - 16 breeds included with Creatures 4. The Wildling Norn was unveiled at this time. Gamescom 2011 Demo Gameplay At Gamescom 2011, Fishing Cactus unveiled a demo of Creatures 4. When the player first started the demo, they could choose either to create a male or a female Norn. Only two or three Norns could be created at the beginning; they must be bred if more are wanted. Once the player had selected the gender, they could then use sliders to change how they wanted their Norn to look and what colour they wanted the fur to be. Once they finished, an egg appeared in the Treehouse (or in the case of the full game, the Hatchery). Like the previous games, the player could punish and reward their Norns by tickling and scratching them. At Gamescom 2012, Fishing Cactus exhibited a second demo of Creatures 4. Norn Stats At one point, Fishing Cactus considered implementing a skill system, to get the norns to take care of plants, play with critters, repair toys and machinery etc. Skill at these tasks was intended to improve the norns' abilities and was meant to be inheritable by children. The stats were coded into genes, storing the value of each stat so that they could be inherited. Due to "side-effects" and the system not being "satisfactory", as of June 2012 its inclusion was being reassessed, and it is currently unknown if it will feature in the final game. Characters Master Shee Main Page: Master Shee On the 2nd of March 2012 Fishing Cactus confirmed that a Shee will be making an appearance in-game. The Shee featured is known as "Master Shee" and will act as a help assistant in the game and provide the player with information. He is the first ever official Shee to make an actual live appearance in-game, and his design said to been inspired by Emmett "Doc" Brown from the Back to the Future trilogy. New Norn Design Along with a screenshot of the actual game, one of the first concept art images Fishing Cactus releasedon one of their blog posts was a pre-rendered image of a new Norn design that will feature in the game, with the most prominent feature being that the Norns will have realistic fur, smaller eyes and a less cartoony appearance. As the player progresses through the game they will encounter many different species of Norns. In the demo, there were two species shown: a typical Norn with big ears and a large head, and a Cavern Norn. There will be five different norn breeds available on release, with each having a distinct 'look' related to its environment. Fishing Cactus released a sneak peek of a new aquatic Norn breed, the Aqua Norn , on their Instagram account in November 2012. Despite achieving mostly postive feedback from the Creatures Community, some members criticised the new design due to it being less cartoony and somewhat less cutesy than the previous Norns in the other games. As a result, the community member Norngirl made an edited version that more closely resembles the Norns in the previous games, which Don also mocked up here. Norngirl also made two other pics http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h78/Getchuz/Norns_.png and http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h78/Getchuz/Fusionofnorn-mogwai_WhereisTail.png as a helpful reminder of what past norns look like. Payment C4 will be a free-to-play game. An online registration is neccessary; the game will require you to be logged in online in order to play, and there will be levels in the game, unlocking items in the shop and in the machines. There will also be a boxed version available to buy, containing "all the old chapters in the series (1, 2, 3, DS at least)" along with a Norn figurine, a Norn with a unique genetic code for their game and the equivalent of twenty euros in the game's virtual wallet. There will be two currencies in game: coins, which will be collectable in-game by doing actions, and golden eggs, which are occasionally given out as special occasions or will be buyable in the shop for real money. The Splicing Machine In the Gamescom 2011 demo, it was shown that one of the many features included in Creatures 4 is the Splicing Machine, which allowed players to create their own Norn genomes rather than choose from a list of breeds. The player could also randomize what they wanted their Norn to look like. As shown in the demo, whenever the player's Norns reproduce the player could choose what features are inherited from the parents using sliders to control each future, if wanted the Norn to more closely resemble one parent than the other. There are limits imposed from the norn's genetic code on how customisable their appearance is, as they inherit their potential appearance from their parents. The first part of the Norn Creator allowed the player to change the physical appearance of their Norn in several ways: *'Pattern Layout' - Controls the layout of the Norn's fur patterns *'Fatness' - Controls how fat or thin the Norn is (this doesn't appear to be modifiable with the player's first Norn(s)) *'Fur Length' - Control how thick or thin the Norn's fur is The second part allows the player to change their Norn's fur colour and/or patterns: *'Eye Color' - Changes the colour of the Norn's eyes *'Fur Base Color' - Changes the base color of the Norn's fur *'Fur Pattern Color' - Changes the colour of the Norn's fur pattern *'Fur Detail Color' - Changes the color of the Norn's fur details As of June 2012, this is the main mechanism by which the players will be able to edit the genome of their norns - focussing on the appearance of the norn. There are currently no specific plans for a Genetics Kit. Release Creatures 4 was originally planned to be released in January 2012 on iOS (iPhone/iPad/iPodTouch), Android, PC (online client) and Mac (AppStore, online client), but Fishing Cactus delayed the game to add more content, giving an estimated release date of Q2 2012. In June 2012, Fishing Cactus announced another delay, this time to Q4 2012. In November 2012, Fishing Cactus confirmed another delay, stating that they hoped to enter a beta phase around January or February, and that if this happened, a 'live date' of March to April 2013 was possible. The PGW page about Creatures 4 had a release date of 26 April 2013, which was described by Lord Shee as being "not definitive". In late February, Fishing Cactus stated that Creatures 4 would enter an in-house alpha stage on the 4th of March, and estimated in the live Q and A session that this could take about 8 weeks. Third-Party Development Third-party development will not be supported at the time of C4's release, but Fishing Cactus are looking at Valve's method of allowing third-party addons for Team Fortress 2 in developing a third-party content system for C4. See Also *Grandroids artificial life game by Steve Grand *Unofficial Creatures games External Links * Official Website * Official Teaser Trailer * Fishing Cactus Blog * Big Ben Interactive's Creatures 4 Page * Press release, 16th May 2011 * The uncensored truth about Creatures 4 * Pocketgamer.co.uk * Gameblog.fr * Creatures 4: Gamescom Preview * Video of Gamescom 2012 demo Category: Creatures games Category:Creatures 4